Rhetoric Part 2

The art of rhetoric, when I first came into English this freshman year I didn’t really know what to expect. During high school I found myself aware of the word rhetoric but I don’t think I truly understood what it meant to write a rhetoric paper. Rhetoric as defined at the beginning of the year is the “art of effective expression” and after writing numerous papers in English 1900 I feel like I know a little bit more about the idea of rhetoric.

I found that as a course English 1900 primarily focused on the argumentative aspect of rhetoric, as most of the major graded writing pieces focused on this sector of rhetoric. Other aspects of the course however did focus on other aspects of rhetoric for example: this blog post that I am currently writing and the numerous other blog posts that I have written through out this first semester here at Saint Louis University. Throughout my time the amount of writing that I have done has really helped both my growth and understanding of rhetoric as a whole. The amount of practice I have had constructing and crafting argumentative style rhetorical papers has helped my growth as a writer. I have learned a lot about the  construction of an argumentative paper, and more specifically the organization of a rhetorical paper is the part of rhetoric which I think I’ve learned the most about.

            The biggest and probably most important thing I learned was the construction of an argumentative paper. I learned that the most important part of any paper is relating the topic sentences of each paragraph back to the thesis statement, and that the order of such paragraphs is crucial to the audiences understanding of your argument. The next most important thing is sources; a writer must establish his credibility to the audience through the use of credible and reliable sources. Not only must he find reliable sources, but the author must properly use and explain his sources to further support his argument as a whole. Following these steps is crucial to developing a well crafted argument, and make up the bulk of what I’ve learned about writing rhetoric in English 19000 this current semester. Helpful sites like those written by Dr. Gideon Burton really helped me to understand the canons of rhetoric as well. Sites like the forest by Dr. Burton really showed the proper ways to create a rhetorical paper. On top of explaining the canons of rhetoric the page also went into detail on Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. These three modes of persuasion are very important in regards to crafting a well-versed argumentative rhetorical paper.

            In the end I learned a lot about the strategies of rhetoric in my semester of English 1900 here at Saint Louis University. The practice I had while writing numerous rhetorical papers has helped grow my further understanding of the art of rhetoric. Looking back now it has been a very productive semester as a whole and I’ve both learned and grown immensely as a writer.

Multimedia Project Link

http://fcsnt.blogspot.com/

this is my blog

Research: Knowledge

      The research paper in my expert opinion is strenuous but helpful; every person at one point in their lives has to learn how to craft and research an argument that they are passionate about. Now in preparation for this paper I think it would of helped to have a few shorter papers due before the larger one. We as a class could've researched less sources over different topics in order to get a sense for how to craft a good argument, instead of just kind of going straight into the major paper. That way when it comes time to create the major research paper we as students could feel more confident in our arguments as we would have seen the mistakes we were already prone to make when writing a research paper. Also I would've liked more mandatory writing in class so that I could see what problems I was having, cause not until the first rough draft did I get any solid feedback on how to make my existing paper better. For me personally it's easiest to learn how to make something right by first doing it wrong and then making corrections, that's why I enjoyed the feedback written on the actual draft. Now in helping with the final draft I think having an earlier draft being due would be beneficial, that way feedback about the paper could be given earlier, which is the part of the writing process which I found the most useful. I think that resources like Strunk and White could have been introduced much earlier in the writing process, probably after the first draft that way the writing of the final draft could involve more fine tuning and less rewriting. Overall the research paper writing process was carried out fairly well and will be an important part of my education as a whole.

Fight Club 11/19: President of Mizzou

Pro-he should step down
Andrew 

• There were numerous incidents during his time as president. He did nothing about the incidents and brushed them under the rug. He is the face of the university, so he should have acted.
• He cannot control what happens, but he should have taken steps to support the people affected by the racial issues.
• He should have reprimanded the offenders. There should be stricter policies towards racial slurs.
• There is a low percentage of African American faculty members at Mizzou. 
• The president chose not to do anything about it. He had a lack of response to incidents which is why the protestors were upset.
• Counter (Matthew): It is a small incident between specific groups. It is not a campus-wide event. The president should not have to deal with this. The smaller departments should be targeted. The president is more of a business leader of the university.
• (Moderator:) How will the leadership change affect the problem?
• The new president will make this his/her priority. A change in leadership will be good for the morale of the students. A fresh face is good in a time when the student body is aggravated.

Con-he should not step down
Matthew

• It does not resolve the problem. It will take time to find a new president to fill in. It is not his responsibility to monitor what individual students say to each other. 
• (Moderator:) The president is the face of the university so shouldn't he be responsible for the students of his university?
• When adolescents are put together in a college setting, incidents will happen. This is the case at any university. Perpetrator should be reprimanded, but the president should not be responsible for their actions. The perpetrator should be responsible for his/her own actions.
• When students are together they will do stupid things. These incidents should not result in the loss of someone's job.
• It is a student body issue. The president should be given time to solve the problem.
• The protestors blew the issue out of proportion. It is unfortunate that people were racially offended, but this slip should not force the president to resign. Everyone makes mistakes. He could have used this as learning experience for the future of his career.
• Counter (Andrew): Why should he be given a second chance? He has been given many second chances in the past.

High School English 8/27

Blog continuation...
Old Post:
High school, a milestone I have not only passed but succeeded in completing, as clearly shown by my prestigious choice of university. For me English was always a struggle, I always got the feeling my teachers and myself never fully clicked, especially in English class. Writing seemed tedious; an exertion not an expression where thesis statements and correct formatting clogged my mind. The droll of timed writings in which I spent half the time lost in my own imagination truly set the standard for my appreciation of English class. Now to be fair I always viewed myself as a decent writer, but I struggled to express my ideas on paper, and I always considered my grammar to be atrocious. I found myself scrapping for motivation in long essays over books, that I never truly read. I was stuck; beached like a whale in a sense struggling to escape the scheduled life of high school. Now begins a new chapter; gone are the days of comparing SAT scores and stressing over college admittance essays; it's surreal to think that at this point in time life may never be any better. Now I truly believe that for English class as well, a new leaf has been turned and I whole-heartedly believe that English class may change along with it. I strive to believe that in this college experience that everyone raves about I will finally be able to write in a way that I want and not by a format a teacher tells me to write. But other than that, nah hopefully college English will be a blast.

New Post:

I'm going to use this post to continue my reflection on the current course of English 1900 that I am taking. English has definitely changed, gone are the days of boring lectures and analysis of books, the class so far has focused on the argumentative side of writing much more than I expected. To me English in High school focused much more on the reading aspect than just on the writing. In college writing is much more frequent in the fact that there is much more actual writing than, and when I put that fact into words it just kind of seems corny, but at the same time it's true. I've become more accustomed to writing frequently and I think especially as I move through both college and life that trait will become increasingly more important and relative. The argumentative techniques that we learn in class are much more applicable to the real world. Especially in fight club; the arguments that I have with my fellow classmates in fight club correlate directly to the real world. The arguments teach me more than just the pointless discussions suggest; it teaches me how to craft a valid argument. Even in circumstances in which I don’t necessarily agree with the point of view that I’ve been given. This teaches me not only how to craft a valid argument but to also be open to other points of views, because even with some topics that I’m adamantly opposed too seeing the argument from another perspective can really open up your mind to other beliefs. That’s how English is going so far this year.

Disparity among Women

Pro's - Actively make changes

1. 50% of world is made of women    
• Make up a variety of fields, but only 15% are executive officers 
• Underrepresented in office positions, something must be done    
2. In the past, always male dominated        
• Must make changes, women are progressing and broaden the opportunities for women 
• Deserve an equal and fair chance for these positions          
3. Needs to happen immediately     
• Study shows Began from our education-not teaching women on how to be leaders    
• Women who are CEO's show they had to be leaders at home, thus they developed leadership qualities 
4. Still should be performance based 
• But women have not had those opportunities, need to have an equal opportunity as mean to have CEO positions 
5. In politics we should have an equal representation of the society, but that cannot happen when everything is delegated to mean 

Con's - Let it work out on it's own          

1. Census Bureau, more women have more college degree's        
• When CEO's change or die out, women should be qualified so we should just wait 
• Studies show women are already increasing in the workforce        
2.  Gender equality doesn't come quickly       
•   America is very progressive, will happen naturally          
3. Schools are focusing on lack of leadership representation         
• Feminists are emerging and if they are more qualified they will eventually take these executive positions.                         

Science

The sites, the sounds, stranded on the center of the planet Jupiter-(stock setting 1), my loyal first mate Jeffery, and three other members of the ship have survived. The crash was brutal, like a meteorite we hurled through the atmosphere(Simile2). I captain Richard Smith-(Protagonist3) for the first time in my illustrious and decorated career have gotten into a minor accident-(Euphemism4)The smell of the burning ship still fresh in my mind.

It all started years ago when I left earth. (Simple sentence 5) I began to miss the sights, the sounds, and the smells of the place I used to live (Parallelism 6). For once my young and flamboyant attitude that defined my youth has gotten the best of me. Ah those were the days. The journey afterword continued smoothly, just a routine planetary checkup tasked with remeasuring the circumference of Uranus. (Syntax 7)We just crested Saturn’s rings when, “Captain look now”, asteroid penetrated the right engine block.( Parenthesis 8). Wabam! (Onomatopoeia 9) The ship rocked from the impact. “Maybe now’s a good time to turn off the rock music” (Sarcasm 10) yelled my first mate, as Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven is the only song I listen too while cruising through the stars. (Irony 11). I griped the wheel of my falling ship, and began to speak to my crew. “I Richard the magnificent (Epithet 12) your most noble captain come to you today to express my deepest regret… (Ellipsis 13) as you may have come to realize our beastly ship is falling, an asteroid at fault for our fall, but fear not crew for I am in command.” Like an angry mama bear I gripped onto that wheel for dear life (Image 14) sweating as the space dust was flying all around me. In this time of panic however I only felt peace, thinking of my deceased mother during my decent. “I won’t let go momma” (apostrophe 15) I cried out as the ship continued to hurdle through the stars, aiming right for the gaseous ball known to many as the planet Jupiter. I turned my head to the left, my first mate Jeffery also holding on for dear life, I looked at him and chuckled saying “I think we’ve got a little bit of a scratch”(Understatement 16) after that I blacked out.

I awoke unscathed by the wreck a miserable success (Oxymoron 17) of sorts I’d call it. But what happened all seems to be a blur. Around me I see my first mate Jeffery and three other people stand. After gathering my thoughts I yelled out “crash more like a below average landing” –(meiosis 18) this is when my laugh became just a desperate gasp. My voice it had no sound, this is when I realized that my true enemy no oxygen (Antagonist 19) had finally found me. A wry smile crossed my face as I slowly collapsed onto the rocky surface. My head spinning from the lack of oxygen I was able to crack one more joke. “Hey Jeffery at least I didn’t die in Uranus.” This was the end goodbye cruel world.

1^st person (Point of view 20)

Pro's and Con's of GMO's

Jack - scribe

McManus - moderator
1) Why not just give impoverish countries the technology to help?
- because the USA is capitalistic
2)  If the world doesn't want them, then why give them to poor countries.
3) If they prolong shelf life of food, why would someone want a month long orange.
4) If plants can resist weed, what happens if the weeds become resistant.

Pro - Abigail
- With GMO's you get more food
- It'll help the extra 2 billion people that will fill the world by 2050
- All from WebMD
- Farmers can grow more food as these foods can grow in droughts and are less likely to die from disease
- Not using these tools will push us back in 20-40 in food production
- causes less stress on the environment
- gets rid of weeds
- help grow better crops faster, more food for consumers
- lower risk of crop failures
- better resistant to extreme weather, example cold winter
- longer life, allows easier transport
- helpful to send food to impoverish countries
- less chemicals that reduces pollution
- better nutrition
- up the amount of minerals in the vitamin, which is more nutritious

1)      Insect Resistance - Some GMO foods have been modified to make them more resistant to insect pests. The University of California in San Diego reports that a toxic bacterium can be added to crops to make them insect repellent, yet safe for human use. This can reduce the amount of pesticide chemicals used on the plants, thus potentially reducing exposure to pesticides.

2)      Environmental Protection - Oklahoma State University reports that the increase of GMO crops and animals often requires less chemicals, time and tools, and may help to reduce environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion. This can improve the general beauty and health of the environment surrounding farms and contribute to the sustaining of better air and water quality, which can indirectly benefit your personal well-being.

3)      More Nutritious Foods - The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations reports that some GMO foods have been engineered to be more nutritious in terms of mineral or vitamin content. Not only does this help you get the nutrients you need, it can also play a significant role in battling malnutrition in the developing world. The United Nations advises that vitamin A-enhanced rice is helping to reduce global vitamin A deficiencies.

4)      Better overall quality and taste - Through the modification of foods, the flavors can be enhanced. Peppers can become spicier or sweeter. Corn can become sweeter. Difficult flavors can become more palatable.

5)      More resistant to disease - Plants and animals that have been genetically modified can become more resistant to the unexpected problems of disease. Think of it as a vaccine for that plant or animal, except that the vaccine is encoded into the genetics instead of a shot given to the immune system.

Con - Andrew
- have been banned in most other major countries
- 60% of countries banned - they aren't safe
- no benefactor
- food grows at same rate of time
- caused many super strains of insects and weeds - according to Brown
- pesticides are still used and stronger are used to kill these new weeds and insects
- pattonable - so they have the risk of putting hard working farmers out of work
- 80% of processed food in the US
- significant increase in diseases and cancers

1)      Allergic Reactions - GMO foods can present significant allergy risks to people, according to Brown University. Genetic modification often mixes or adds proteins that weren't indigenous to the original plant or animal, causing new allergic reactions in the human body. In some cases, proteins from an organism that you're allergic to may be added to an organism that you weren't originally allergic to, prompting the same allergic reaction experienced from the first organism.

2)      Decreased Antibiotic Efficacy - Some GMO foods have had antibiotic features built into them to make them immune or resistant to diseases or viruses, according to Iowa State University. When you eat them, these antibiotic markers persist in your body and can make actual antibiotic medications less effective. The university warns that such ingestion of GMO foods and regular exposure to antibiotics may be contributing to the decreased effectiveness of antibiotic drugs that is being noticed in hospitals around the world.

3)      Gene Transfer - A constant risk of GMO foods is that the modified genes of the organisms may escape into the wild. Brown University warns that herbicide-resistant genes from commercial crops may cross into the wild weed population, thus creating "superweeds" that are impossible to kill with herbicides. A related risk is that the escape of genetically enhanced animals and vegetation can create new super-organisms that can out-compete natural animal and plant populations to drive certain species into extinction.

4)      There is no economic value - GMO foods take just as long to mature and take just as much effort to grow, meaning that there is no real economic value to growing GMO foods when compared to non-GMO foods.

5)      Environmental damage - By growing plants or raising livestock in environmental conditions that normally wouldn’t support them, there is the potential of irrevocably damaging that environment. This is often seen through GMO crossbreading – weeds, for example, that can be crossed with GMO plants can often become resistant to herbicides, creating the need for more GMO efforts.

Counters:
- Yes, GMOs help impoverished nations, but not best for the US
- Thought they make the food cheaper, but is it cheaper if you have cancer

Links: 1)      http://www.livestrong.com/article/213053-pros-cons-of-gmo-foods/

http://healthresearchfunding.org/pros-cons-genetically-modified-foods/

WINNER: Andrew

1st Rule of Fight Club

      Fight club occurs once a week and, is a sort of program which is designed to teach us students how to construct and perform verbal arguments in the presence of others; sometimes over topics we don't relatively agree with. It's a very helpful assignment which teaches its participants the standards of a well constructed argument.
      Due to fight club I found many things significantly helpful in regards to crafting my papers. For one it showed me how to establish my position: the key to a sound argument is an unwavering stance. If you want someone to truly believe your argument you yourself must be convinced to believe it as well. Never once can your ideas or beliefs shake in regards to your topic or else you will lose all credibility in your audience. The hardest part is the actual convincing part, even though you can craft an argument both on paper and in your mind doesn't necessarily mean that anyone in your audience will actually believe you. Sometimes even if it is a good argument someone still won't believe you, thus the thick-skulled nature of our society. The hardest thing to accomplish in writing is just the physical charm and appearance, something about actual human reaction is much more powerful than trying to convince someone with just words on a paper. When you're in the actually presence of someone it's much easier to connect with someone on a personal level and thus aid in the convincing process.
      In the end the argumentative points of fight club help in regards to crafting a convincing argument on paper; however, nothing is quite as convincing as human interaction during an argumentative setting.
     

Flip the Switch?

Jack Hazzard- Don't flip the switch (Con)
Danny McNamee- Flip the switch(Pro)
Andrew Elston- Scribe/ Mediator

Fight Club

Pros- Less people would die, the inevitable will happen 

- why is it matter who is to blame in reality you're actually saving 4 people

-The train is coming any way so you cant blame the person who flips the switch either way

-It's the logical thing to do, save more lives 

-90 % of people would reverse the car to kill the one person rather than do nothing with the 5 

- If you do nothing you are responsible for the lives of the 5 people that you killed rather than just the 1 

-The mans organs in the hospital are worth the lives of 5 other people

-Overall if death is morally right its better to kill the one rather than the 5

Cons

-a culture that sacrifices its own don't last as long

-it breaks religious commandment of thall shall not kill

- if you pull the lever you yourself are solely responsible for killing that person, but in essence if you let the 5 people die you are just a bystander.

-in the same 90% article most people when faced with the actual circumstances chicken out in the end much like a solider in war

- instead of killing the fat man try and get the fat person to yell with you to get the workers to move than you can save all your lives.

-example with the movie the dark nigh and the boat scenario

-in the end people do the right thing

Pro

- it doesn't matter who kills a person, if you save more people than you're a hero

Con

- but if you pull the switch by definition you are committing man slaughter

Pro

-(no response and admits defeat)

City Flags

Tweet: Roman Mars whimsical tone and quirky charisma really makes the topic of flags an interesting and fun topic.

Current Allen Texas Flag:

The original Allen Texas flag is a little lacking and breaks one of the first and most basic errors in regards to flag design: it uses the towns name in the flag. Some of the ideas are still good and can translate well into a redesign.

My Allen Texas Design:

Now I decided to change actually more modify the current Allen Texas city flag. The original city flag has many good elements but breaks the rule of have words within the flag, which defeats the purpose of having symbolism. The flag has 3 colors red, white, and blue, all of which represent the same colors of our local high school. The Texas flag is also composed of the colors red, white, and blue, as a result the Allen flag is symbolic of the state pride that all texans feel. The graphic in the middle is taken from the original flag as it represent both the home town of Allen Texas with the A like shape of the symbol. The symbol also references the idea of Texas being referred to as the lone star state, the A like symbol has an outline of a star in the center connecting the city of Allen to its Texas roots. The flag is clean, simple and memorable with plenty of symbolism. It meets Roman Mars’ general requirements for a good flag design. Though in the end with any piece of art; judging it is in the eye of the beholder.